June 6, 2017

This pie chart from the US EPA represents the waste profile of a typical municipality.

Do you notice what I notice?

Over a quarter of our waste is organic (food or yard trimmings), which is completely compostable

Another quarter is paper, which is almost entirely recyclable

8% is plastics, much of which is recyclable

1% is metal, which is recyclable

2% is wood, which can be composted or repurposed for fuel

Add up those numbers and you can see that if we recycled, composted or otherwise diverted everything possible, we could keep at least three-quarters of our waste out of the landfill (and that’s not including glass, which is recyclable in many places).

That would greatly reduce the need for fresh resources; and vastly extend the lives of our landfills.

So – what’s in your trash bin right now? If you’re not diverting everything you can, why not make a commitment right now?

Take a minute to imagine the potential if we all recycled and composted everything we could – then do your part to make it happen!